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March 4, 2006

Record sentence for political corruption

This New York Times article provides the highlights of yesterday's sentencing of former Representative Randy Cunningham, who received "eight years and four months in prison for taking $2.4 million in bribes from military contractors in return for smoothing the way for government contracts." According to the article, the government "said the sentence was the longest ever handed down for a member or former member of Congress in a federal corruption case."

This Washington Post account notes that District Judge Larry A. Burns selected this sentence "after prosecutors argued for the maximum 10 years and defense attorneys suggested that six years was enough." Interestingly, this Los Angeles Times account explains that "Burns said he would have sentenced the 64-year-old Republican to 10 years in prison, as requested by prosecutors, but concluded that a measure of leniency was appropriate because of Cunningham's service in Vietnam."